Tag Archives: India

In this edition, as a build-up to the Cricket World Cup 2019 which is just round the corner, we’ll be analysing the performance of the participating teams (10 teams) over the past 4 years since the previous World Cup (March 2015).

Note: All numbers presented in this post are for the duration Apr 1, 2015 to Mar 10, 2019 for matches played by and against the teams participating in CWC2019. So matches played between India and Zimbabwe, Ireland and UAE, England and Scotland, etc. aren’t included. All Teams on an average have played about 50-70 ODIs in the past 4 years (basis above criteria) except Afghanistan which has featured only in 11 ODIs against the other 9 competing teams.

While analysing overall team performance in a format, I thought looking at W/L (Wins/Losses Ratio) was a good start. Basis W/L ratio for the past 4 years, the 10 teams could broadly be clustered into 5 groups

Favourites – England, India; Expected to definitely finish in the Top 2 in League stage. Anything less than Top 2 Finish will be considered an “upset”

Likely Top 4 Finish – New Zealand, South Africa; obvious choice to complete the Top 4, alongside India and England

Challengers – Australia, Pakistan, Bangladesh; Top 4 finish is not a given, but cannot be completely ruled out

Namesakes – West Indies, Sri Lanka; added into the mix just to complete the pool. No chance of qualifying for Semi Finals. It’s sad considering these 2 teams together have won 3 World Cups in the past. I’ll shave my head if either of the teams qualify for Top 4 in 2019 CWC.

Dark Horse – Afghanistan; you never know!

The grouping broadly does justice to the W/L record these teams have demonstrated over the past 4 years.

Take a look at the Stat below:

England is leagues ahead of everyone else. India is a clear #2.

India’s phenomenal W/L record took a beating thanks to the recent Home series against Australia where they lost thrice.

Another interesting aspect to note is that Afghanistan have won more matches than they’ve lost. Considering their phenomenal bowling stats (best among all teams), don’t be surprised if they cause a couple of big upsets in the league stage. Afghanistan vs England will be a contest to watch out for (Best bowling team vs explosive batting team).

In run chases, England’s W/L ratio stands out further, while India is consistent both while chasing and defending a total.

If you’re one of those teams playing England in the World Cup, here’s a free tip. Win the toss and don’t dare let England chase!!! Thank me later.

I’ve also put together Batting and Bowling Stats by team, separately for “Overall”, “In Wins” and “In losses”.

While all the stats are available in tables below, some observations:

England have been this successful predominantly because of their batting; in fact, their bowling performance over the past 4 years is one of the worst (comparable to Sri Lanka)

England is the only team that strikes at 100+ with the bat; secret of their success. Unleashing their explosive and deep batting line up on the poor bowlers. Even though India average better with the bat (best in fact), because England bat real deep, they score ~30 runs higher on an average per innings, compared to other teams, which gives them the edge, despite their below average bowling

There’s no match to Afghanistan in the bowling department – they have the best Bowling Avg, best Economy Rate and best Bowling Strike Rate. India is second best in terms of bowling average and economy rate, among all teams

New Zealand and South Africa’s Overall Bowling Stats exactly mirror each other; South Africa has a slight edge over NZ in the batting department

SL and West Indies – well, let’s not waste time there. Whoever wins the SL vs WI contest will finish 9th in the League stage

Can you infer anything else from the Bowling and Batting Stats? Do you want me to look at any other stats in specific? Shoot them in the comments section.

When One and Two battle it out for glory, what results is an awesome exhibition of test cricket. As awesome as it can get.

I look back at some of the interesting moments of this epic test match between South Africa and India at Johannesburg (Dec 18-22, 2013).

I thought Kohli’s masterly century in the first innings set up the game nicely. To me, it was not merely an innings. Rather, it was a statement that marked his arrival at No. 4 for India; much like Sachin Tendulkar who made the most of his first chance to open for India in ODIs (he scored 82 off 49 balls against NZ). The way Kohli recuperated after inflicting the blunder of running out Pujara was phenomenal. Of course, he would look back at his 5 Test hundreds and think why he hasn’t really converted any of them (his highest being 119), unlike Pujara who already has four 150 plus scores (out of his 6 Test hundreds)

The highlight of SA’s first innings to me was Vernon Philander’s fluid 59 which drastically reduced SA’s first innings deficit. Never knew he could bat so well. He had the technique of a specialist batsman with the aggression that goes well with a tailender. Bowling all-rounders are always an asset to their sides.

With a mere lead of 36 when Murali Vijay came in to bat for India, second time, I thought he did a great job of seeing off the new ball. His cautious 39 off 94 balls might not be remembered 10 years down the line, but played a big role in the Test match. What followed after the fall of his wicket is a partnership that reassured the Indian fans that Indian cricket is in safe hands. A mammoth 222 run stand between Kohli and Pujara in the second innings of a test match at South Africa against the like of Steyn and Philander. Steyn apparently recorded one of his worst bowling figures in Test cricket.

With India having set a target of 458 for SA to chase in a little over 4 sessions, the match was heavily in favor of India. Over the last four sessions of the test match, SA were to prove to the world why they are deservedly the test champions. On a pitch that misbehaved once in every ten deliveries, negotiating the pace and swing of the Indian quicks and the bounce of Ashwin, SA batsmen, particularly Faf du Plessis and AB de Villiers displayed world class batsmanship. With the way Faf and AB de went about things in the 2nd and most part of 3rd session of Day 5, SA will actually be disappointed they weren’t able to seal a World Record successful run chase.